Numbers 33:50-52 (ESV)
And the LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, [51] "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, [52] then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places.
Then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you. Israel's first job when they go into the land of Canaan is to drive out the inhabitants that are living there. This is the most important job that they are to do. Were they stealing this land? No. There are several reasons why this was not stealing. Firstly, the land was the LORD's, not the Canaanites'. Though Canaanites lived there, they were not the owners of the land. What an abomination to God when men say things like 'This is our land, and our ancestor's land'. The land is GOD's. He is the rightful Owner of planet Earth because He created it. It is His possession. All things are His, and all things have God's Holy Name of ownership written on it:
Psalm 24:1-2 (ESV)
The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, [2] for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.
Read what the above scripture says: "The earth is the Lord's". Why? "For He has founded it". He is the Maker of the earth and everything in it, and therefore He is also the rightful owner of all. Canaanites were only the tenants of the land, God having lent the land to them, expecting good fruits. But remember how they wasted the land they borrowed with their idolatry and vile sins:
And the LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, [51] "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, [52] then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places.
Then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you. Israel's first job when they go into the land of Canaan is to drive out the inhabitants that are living there. This is the most important job that they are to do. Were they stealing this land? No. There are several reasons why this was not stealing. Firstly, the land was the LORD's, not the Canaanites'. Though Canaanites lived there, they were not the owners of the land. What an abomination to God when men say things like 'This is our land, and our ancestor's land'. The land is GOD's. He is the rightful Owner of planet Earth because He created it. It is His possession. All things are His, and all things have God's Holy Name of ownership written on it:
Psalm 24:1-2 (ESV)
The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, [2] for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.
Read what the above scripture says: "The earth is the Lord's". Why? "For He has founded it". He is the Maker of the earth and everything in it, and therefore He is also the rightful owner of all. Canaanites were only the tenants of the land, God having lent the land to them, expecting good fruits. But remember how they wasted the land they borrowed with their idolatry and vile sins:
Leviticus 18:24-25 (ESV)
"Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, [25] and the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.
These inhabitants of Canaan had borrowed the land from the Lord, but they did not give glory nor thanksgiving to Him in return. They used the land that they were graciously given for indulging in their lawlessness. For all the good things and blessings they received, they repaid Him with wicked deeds such as incest, adultery, homosexuality and bestiality. They even offered their little children as burnt offering to appease their gods. With such sins and works of darkness they wearied God and burdened Him. If these sins make us, sinful human beings, to vomit and cringe in disgust, how much would they have been an abomination to God's holy and pure eyes? It was no wonder that God thrust them out, and put new tenants in to His land who will bear good fruits.
Likewise when Christ returns God will cast all evildoers out of this world and cast them into a garbage dump called Hell. The bible often compares human beings on earth as trees that have been planted in God's orchard. But if we have not produced good fruits for Him, God will see us as a waste of a space, and a waste of His resources of blessings and grace. Such trees are no good for anything but to be chopped down and thrown into the fire:
Luke 13:7 (ESV)
And he said to the vinedresser, ''Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?''
Matthew 3:10 (ESV)
Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
When a person hears and accepts the above truth, the automatic response for him would be to frantically try to bear the good fruits on his own. But the bad news is that there is no goodness inside a sinner at all. Man since Adam's fall is full of sin, and there is only sin in him, and nothing but sin. Sinful man is a diseased tree, a bad tree, producing only bad fruits. There is nothing in the man that can enable him to make good produce:
"Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, [25] and the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.
These inhabitants of Canaan had borrowed the land from the Lord, but they did not give glory nor thanksgiving to Him in return. They used the land that they were graciously given for indulging in their lawlessness. For all the good things and blessings they received, they repaid Him with wicked deeds such as incest, adultery, homosexuality and bestiality. They even offered their little children as burnt offering to appease their gods. With such sins and works of darkness they wearied God and burdened Him. If these sins make us, sinful human beings, to vomit and cringe in disgust, how much would they have been an abomination to God's holy and pure eyes? It was no wonder that God thrust them out, and put new tenants in to His land who will bear good fruits.
Likewise when Christ returns God will cast all evildoers out of this world and cast them into a garbage dump called Hell. The bible often compares human beings on earth as trees that have been planted in God's orchard. But if we have not produced good fruits for Him, God will see us as a waste of a space, and a waste of His resources of blessings and grace. Such trees are no good for anything but to be chopped down and thrown into the fire:
Luke 13:7 (ESV)
And he said to the vinedresser, ''Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?''
Matthew 3:10 (ESV)
Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
When a person hears and accepts the above truth, the automatic response for him would be to frantically try to bear the good fruits on his own. But the bad news is that there is no goodness inside a sinner at all. Man since Adam's fall is full of sin, and there is only sin in him, and nothing but sin. Sinful man is a diseased tree, a bad tree, producing only bad fruits. There is nothing in the man that can enable him to make good produce:
Matthew 7:17-19 (ESV)
So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. [18] A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. [19] Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. [18] A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. [19] Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
The fact that man does evil things shows that he is evil. Fallen man is not a good tree that sometimes bears bad fruits, because if he was good, he would produce only that which is good For read what Jesus says: "A healthy tree CANNOT bear bad fruit". But here some may ask, 'But surely sometimes healthy trees produce bad fruits?' But GOD requires perfection. To God's eyes, a man is either good or bad, either sinful or righteous. There is no middle ground. If a person says, 'I am good', yet he does evil things, the man shows that he is NOT good. Even though he may have done a million good things, because of one evil deed he is considered by God a sinner. What is the proof for this? Adam was good in God's eyes in Eden until he sinned one sin, and all of mankind became damned and naturally sinful, all because of that ONE act of sin. Because of that ONE act of lawbreaking, sin entered like a cancerous disease upon all mankind, damning all man, and making all man naturally evil from the moment they are born. We became Sinners, just as those with leprosy were called Lepers. The disease defines who we are.
Now a sinner may do that which appears good, but even the very best good work a sinner does is poisoned and corrupted with sin. It is like fruit that appears fine on the outside but the inside are worms, is diseased, bruised and dry, unable to be eaten. Similarly, there is NOTHING good that can be done by man that can be acceptable to a perfect God.
Romans 7:18 (ESV)
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
There is nothing good dwelling in our flesh because it was handed down from fallen Adam. We are all trees from the corrupted root of Adam. How can thousands of years of decay produce good fruits acceptable to God? Our works are hardly acceptable to our neighbours, let alone a good God. We are evil, born evil, and do evil, and thus are deserving of nothing but death.
How then can sinful man be saved from the eternal fire? How can a man produce good deeds for God to enjoy, when he has nothing in him that which is good? It is by believing in Jesus Christ. It is by breaking away from the corrupt root of Adam, and attaching oneself to the another Root. Jesus Christ is the only Good Tree that produced the good fruits pleasing to God. Jesus Christ's perfect sinless life and His obedience to take up the cross was pleasing to God. See how much God was pleased with His Son, His life and His obedience on the cross in these scriptures:
Matthew 3:17 (ESV)
and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."
John 8:29 (ESV)
And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him."
John 10:17 (ESV)
For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.
John 3:35 (ESV)
The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.
John 15:10 (ESV)
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.
Ephesians 5:2 (ESV)
And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Philippians 2:8-9 (ESV)
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. [9] Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name
God is pleased with Jesus Christ and loves Him, both because He is God's only begotten Son, and because the Son always does the things that are pleasing to God. Jesus Christ is the Good Tree that bears good fruits. What are we to do then? We must trust in this Good Tree. We have no other hope, but that the good fruits that He produces to God be counted to be ours. And if we abide in Jesus by faith, His fruits will not only be counted to be ours, but by His own Spirit and His own strength, He will produce those things in us that are pleasing to God:
John 15:4 (ESV)
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
Philippians 2:13 (ESV)
for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Therefore see the fruits that are acceptable to God are called the fruits of the Holy Spirit, and not our fruits:
Galatians 5:22-23 (ESV)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
So we trust in the Spirit of Christ to bear in us these good things. We have no other hope otherwise. We can't trust in our own dead hearts. Let us trust in Him forever that He will produce through us these wonderful fruits.
Destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places. It was the desire of God that He destroy in Israel all imaginations of what He was like. Because that is what idolatry is - imaginations of what God is like. When man makes an idol in the likeness of a bird for example, the man is effectively saying, 'In my imagination God is like this bird'. Thus, by declaring that the Creator is like one of His own creation, the man blasphemes against God - for God is nothing like His creatures. The man has committed a sin worthy of death, for he has condescendingly brought down God to his own level, and even lower if he has likened Him to an animal. It is truly an abomination in God's sight:
Romans 1:22-23 (ESV)
Claiming to be wise, they became fools, [23] and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
And idolatry still abounds today, perhaps not as much in practice, but very much in people's minds. Everyone in the world these days is fond of saying things like, 'You can believe in what you want, that's okay, that's not what I believe', or even in churches, 'You believe that God is like that, but that's not what I think what God is like'. Everyone in the world has their own imaginations of what Truth is and what God is. And everyone says that's okay, because they say, 'Everyone is entitled to their opinion.' All these sayings and all such thoughts are nothing but idolatry. Call it post-modernism or freedom of speech or whatever you like, but God calls it making and worshipping of idols.
How then can sinful man be saved from the eternal fire? How can a man produce good deeds for God to enjoy, when he has nothing in him that which is good? It is by believing in Jesus Christ. It is by breaking away from the corrupt root of Adam, and attaching oneself to the another Root. Jesus Christ is the only Good Tree that produced the good fruits pleasing to God. Jesus Christ's perfect sinless life and His obedience to take up the cross was pleasing to God. See how much God was pleased with His Son, His life and His obedience on the cross in these scriptures:
Matthew 3:17 (ESV)
and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."
John 8:29 (ESV)
And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him."
John 10:17 (ESV)
For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.
John 3:35 (ESV)
The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.
John 15:10 (ESV)
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.
Ephesians 5:2 (ESV)
And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Philippians 2:8-9 (ESV)
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. [9] Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name
God is pleased with Jesus Christ and loves Him, both because He is God's only begotten Son, and because the Son always does the things that are pleasing to God. Jesus Christ is the Good Tree that bears good fruits. What are we to do then? We must trust in this Good Tree. We have no other hope, but that the good fruits that He produces to God be counted to be ours. And if we abide in Jesus by faith, His fruits will not only be counted to be ours, but by His own Spirit and His own strength, He will produce those things in us that are pleasing to God:
John 15:4 (ESV)
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
Philippians 2:13 (ESV)
for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Therefore see the fruits that are acceptable to God are called the fruits of the Holy Spirit, and not our fruits:
Galatians 5:22-23 (ESV)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
So we trust in the Spirit of Christ to bear in us these good things. We have no other hope otherwise. We can't trust in our own dead hearts. Let us trust in Him forever that He will produce through us these wonderful fruits.
Destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places. It was the desire of God that He destroy in Israel all imaginations of what He was like. Because that is what idolatry is - imaginations of what God is like. When man makes an idol in the likeness of a bird for example, the man is effectively saying, 'In my imagination God is like this bird'. Thus, by declaring that the Creator is like one of His own creation, the man blasphemes against God - for God is nothing like His creatures. The man has committed a sin worthy of death, for he has condescendingly brought down God to his own level, and even lower if he has likened Him to an animal. It is truly an abomination in God's sight:
Romans 1:22-23 (ESV)
Claiming to be wise, they became fools, [23] and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
And idolatry still abounds today, perhaps not as much in practice, but very much in people's minds. Everyone in the world these days is fond of saying things like, 'You can believe in what you want, that's okay, that's not what I believe', or even in churches, 'You believe that God is like that, but that's not what I think what God is like'. Everyone in the world has their own imaginations of what Truth is and what God is. And everyone says that's okay, because they say, 'Everyone is entitled to their opinion.' All these sayings and all such thoughts are nothing but idolatry. Call it post-modernism or freedom of speech or whatever you like, but God calls it making and worshipping of idols.
By commanding Israel to destroy all the figures and the images, God was effectively commanding to Israel to destroy within themselves ANY personal imaginations of what God is like. We likewise ought not to imagine what God is like at all. We ought to destroy in ourselves ALL imaginations of what we love to think God is like. God has clearly shown who He is in the scriptures. In the Old Testament God has shown that He is a righteous and a holy God that can't abide with sinful human beings. The way He judged Egypt with terrible judgments, and the way He broke out with wrath against Israel when they sinned, and how He judged Israel so severely when they continued in sin, showed how much God hates and is angry against sin. By His judgments we see that God is a God who cannot endure lawbreakers, and strikes down with death those who sin against Him. In the New Testament God revealed to us His grace and truth through Jesus Christ His Son. Not that He was a different God before, but He has more clearly revealed His graciousness and forgiveness and through His Son. And God showed Himself most perfectly on the Cross, by both punishing sin severely upon His Son to show His righteousness, and also by the same cross He showed His amazing love and grace to us, by making a way for us sinners to be forgiven and be reconciled to Him. The gospel showed who God is.
What other revelation of God can we have but what He has already shown of Himself on the Calvary for us? Any other imaginations are false and idolatrous representations of Him. It is therefore our job every day to destroy any images of God that we have in or minds, that which does not agree with Jesus Christ crucified. This is also what the Christians are to do in and for the world we live in:
2 Corinthians 10:4-6 (ESV)
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. [5] We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, [6] being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.
We don't have to physically destroy idols and burn down temples like Israel did in Canaan. Our weapons are not according to the flesh, but spiritual. Burn down a temple or break down an idol, but if the idolatry inside a man is not destroyed, temples will be rebuilt an idols remade. Our only weapon is the preaching of the Gospel, spiritually breaking down every argument and opinion that those not agree with the true view of God. We must make people to obey Christ, by preaching HIM. Then when Christ by His Spirit destroys the idolatry inside the man, then shall the idols will be naturally destroyed by the idolator's own hands:
Acts 19:18-19 (ESV)
Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. [19] And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver.
Let us preach Jesus Christ, who alone is the true Image of God, and the true Temple of God in whom alone God dwells. When we preach Him, those who could never find Him in the high places will come to Christ and find God in Him, and worship God in Him. Let us pray that God will grant us the power and the truth that we may faithfully do this work for Him always. Let us call every man to repent from their idolatry, and let us establish in their hearts Jesus Christ where their idols used to stand.
What other revelation of God can we have but what He has already shown of Himself on the Calvary for us? Any other imaginations are false and idolatrous representations of Him. It is therefore our job every day to destroy any images of God that we have in or minds, that which does not agree with Jesus Christ crucified. This is also what the Christians are to do in and for the world we live in:
2 Corinthians 10:4-6 (ESV)
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. [5] We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, [6] being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.
We don't have to physically destroy idols and burn down temples like Israel did in Canaan. Our weapons are not according to the flesh, but spiritual. Burn down a temple or break down an idol, but if the idolatry inside a man is not destroyed, temples will be rebuilt an idols remade. Our only weapon is the preaching of the Gospel, spiritually breaking down every argument and opinion that those not agree with the true view of God. We must make people to obey Christ, by preaching HIM. Then when Christ by His Spirit destroys the idolatry inside the man, then shall the idols will be naturally destroyed by the idolator's own hands:
Acts 19:18-19 (ESV)
Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. [19] And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver.
Let us preach Jesus Christ, who alone is the true Image of God, and the true Temple of God in whom alone God dwells. When we preach Him, those who could never find Him in the high places will come to Christ and find God in Him, and worship God in Him. Let us pray that God will grant us the power and the truth that we may faithfully do this work for Him always. Let us call every man to repent from their idolatry, and let us establish in their hearts Jesus Christ where their idols used to stand.
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